How can friendship affect your life

Take the first step and reach out to a neighbor or work colleague, for example—they will thank you later. Carpool to work. Many companies offer carpool programs. Spending regular time together is a great way to get to know others better and offers the opportunity for uninterrupted and deeper conversation. Track down old friends via social media. Here are some common obstacles—and how you can overcome them.

Developing and maintaining friendships takes time and effort, but even with a packed schedule, you can find ways to make the time for friends. Put it on your calendar. Schedule time for your friends just as you would for errands. Make it automatic with a weekly or monthly standing appointment. Or simply make sure that you never leave a get-together without setting the next date.

Mix business and pleasure. Figure out a way to combine your socializing with activities that you have to do anyway. These could include going to the gym, getting a pedicure, or shopping. Errands create an opportunity to spend time together while still being productive.

Group it. Making new friends means putting yourself out there, and that can be scary. But by working with the right therapist, you can explore ways to build trust in existing and future friendships. For more general insecurities or a fear of rejection, it helps to evaluate your attitude. These fears get in the way of making satisfying connections and become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Nobody likes to be rejected, but there are healthy ways to handle it:. Making a new friend is just the beginning of the journey.

Friendships take time to form and even more time to deepen, so you need to nurture that new connection. Be the friend that you would like to have. Treat your friend just as you want them to treat you. Be reliable, thoughtful, trustworthy, and willing to share yourself and your time.

Be a good listener. Be prepared to listen to and support friends just as you want them to listen to and support you. Give your friend space. Everyone needs space to be alone or spend time with other people as well. Instead, allow your friendship to evolve naturally.

But friends do a lot more than give you a shoulder to cry on; they also have a positive impact on your health. Some research even says friendships are just as important to your well-being as eating right and exercising. So how do friendships contribute to your well-being? It turns out that healthy relationships actually contribute to good physical health. Having a close circle of friends can decrease your risk of health problems like diabetes, heart attack, and stroke.

Having strong social ties can also decrease feelings of loneliness, which evidence shows can take a toll on your longevity. According to a review, people with strong relationships have half the risk of premature death from all causes. Social isolation and loneliness are linked to a variety of health issues such as high blood pressure, substance abuse , heart disease, and even cancer. One possible explanation for those health benefits is that friendships can help you make lifestyle changes that can have a direct impact on your well-being.

For example, your friends can help you set and maintain goals to eat better and exercise more. Additionally, people are more motivated and likely to stick to a weight loss or exercise program when they do it with a buddy. It's much easier to get out and stay active when you have a friend by your side.

That friend may also suggest activities that you would not have considered on your own—thus, pushing you outside your comfort zone to challenge your anxiety. If you find yourself going through a hard time, having a friend to help you through can make the transition easier. Research also shows that happiness is contagious among friends. One study of high school students found that those who were depressed were twice as likely to recover if they had happy friends.

Likewise, kids were half as likely to develop depression if their friends had a "healthy mood. Everyone has self-doubts and insecurities every now and then.

But having friends who support you plays a big role in building your self-esteem , or how much you appreciate and love yourself. Supportive friends can help you feel more confident by offering praise and reassurance when you're feeling unsure.

Any of these challenges can have a significant impact on long-term mental health outcomes. This study, which looked at resilience in more than 2, adolescents between the ages of 14 and 24, found evidence to suggest friendship strongly predicted resilience, or the ability to recover after distressing experiences. Study authors noted that while family support also helped boost immediate resilience, friendship predicted greater resilience later in life, while family support did not.

Now that you know more about the benefits of strong friendships, you might wonder how to go about finding and keeping good friends. Developing and maintaining friendships is often easier said than done, especially in adulthood when the demands of daily life keep you busy. These tips can help. Consider your recent interactions with others.

Extending an invitation can feel a little scary, especially if you fear rejection. But if they feel nervous, too, your friendship may never get off the ground. Keep your invitation simple and casual. Find more tips on getting to know people here. Find tips on improving communication in friendships and other relationships here. If you find it difficult to keep up multiple friendships, consider focusing on the ones that really matter to you.

Many people lack the time and emotional energy to nurture numerous close friendships. At the end of the day, the number of friends you have matters far less than the quality of those relationships. Even a few close friendships can make plenty of difference in your well-being. Unhealthy or toxic friendships can cause stress and bring you down just as easily as healthy friendships lift you up. Find more signs of toxic friendships and tips on how to cope here.

But strong friendships will continue to strengthen you, year in and year out, because the important things — trust , respect, forgiveness , and support — will always stay the same. Crystal Raypole has previously worked as a writer and editor for GoodTherapy.

Her fields of interest include Asian languages and literature, Japanese translation, cooking, natural sciences, sex positivity, and mental health. You might wonder why your family isn't top of this list. Well, if you're worried about your finances, job or health, you may not want to burden them with your concerns. Of course, it could also be that your family is the problem. For example, you may have relationship issues with your spouse and need someone to talk to about it.

We all know that keeping these feelings bottled up is not good for your mental state. A trusted friend can be very valuable in these situations. Many of us find it easier to start good habits like jogging or dieting if we have a friend to help us along, or even compete with us. The support of a friend can mean the difference between success and failure in your latest attempt to improve your health. As you might already have worked out, this can also have the opposite effect.

It's important to surround yourselves with friends who have the same approach to healthy habits as you. Having just one person in your circle of friends who starts a good or bad habit can influence the whole group. Choose your friends wisely! If you're in pain, you normally take a painkiller. However, a study conducted by researchers at Oxford University in found that talking to friends could also be used to reduce pain. Their findings showed that people with a large social circle had a higher pain tolerance than those with fewer friends, or less fulfilling relationships.

The happiness we get from spending time with good friends causes your brain to release endorphins. According to the authors of this report, this could have a greater painkilling effect than morphine. When you sign up to Push Doctor, we give you a unique code that you can share with your friends. Like you, they'll be able to get an appointment with an experienced GP while they'll also get money off their first appointment. How it works.